Here Are The Companies Committed To The Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord
In the weeks since a tragic building collapse claimed more than 1,100 lives, a pact among global retailers to protect Bangladesh factory workers has garnered newfound support, with more companies signing commitments by the day.

The pact, officially known as the Accord on Fire and Building Safety on Bangladesh, originated last year and focuses on expanding worker rights and bettering fire and building safety standards. Now, facing international pressure to take action, numerous retailers have committed to a modified version, including Swedish retailer H&M, the biggest purchaser of garments from Bangladesh.

The pact entails a five-year commitment and requires participating retailers not only to conduct independent safety inspections of factories, but also pay up to $500,000 per year toward safety improvments. The agreement is also backed by the International Labour Organisation, trade unions and other lobby groups.

Eight top fashion retailers fail to sign Bangladesh safety accord
The accord on building safety in Bangladesh has been signed by Primark, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Zara and Tesco

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At least eight of the UK's leading fashion retailers had last night failed to put their names to a legally binding initiative to offer financial support for fire safety and building improvements in the wake of the Bangladesh garment disaster.

George at Asda, Next, Matalan, River Island, Sports Direct, Peacocks, Shop Direct and the Arcadia group – which includes Topshop, Bhs and Dorothy Perkins – all failed to meet a deadline set by NGOs and labour leaders to sign the pledge.

U.S. companies drag their feet on Bangladesh factory safety
The whole world is outraged over the deadly Bangladesh building collapse, but U.S. companies are dragging their feet when it comes to changing safety protocols.
On Monday, six major companies -- representing some of the largest purchasers of clothes from Bangladesh -- signed on to fund a five-year, legally binding agreement that would improve factory conditions in the country. By Tuesday, four more had joined: Benetton, Mango, Marks & Spencer, El Corte Inglés and Loblaw (Joe Fresh's Canadian parent company).

Originally Posted by Zunaid
H&M has been a major proponent and a leader in this initiative.

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H&M was under particular pressure to sign from an online petition organised by Avaaz, a human rights group, in the aftermath of the deadly collapse. With the blunt title "Crushed to Make Our Clothes", it has so far gathered nearly one million signatures from around the world.

Buoyed by its success, Avaaz says it is now targeting Gap and trying to embarrass others into signing.

Walmart Names Names: Its List of 240+ Banned Factories in Bangladesh
After the disaster in Bangladesh last week — one of history’s deadliest industrial accidents — some of the world’s biggest clothing makers have signed up to a new industry-wide system for monitoring safety standards at Bangladeshi garment factories.

Some, that is. Not all. Wal-Mart has not signed on to the system, instead going ahead with its own set of safety initiatives in Bangladesh announced today. From the WSJ’s Shelly Banjo:

Wal-Mart said it would pay for safety inspections at 279 Bangladesh factories and publish results on its website by June 1. When fire and building safety issues are found, Wal-Mart will require factory owners to make necessary renovations or risk being removed from its list of authorized factories.

Wal-Mart won’t pay for the renovations but will “expect the cost of safety improvements to be reflected in the cost of goods we buy,” said Rajan Kamalanathan, Wal-Mart’s head of ethical sourcing, in an interview. “We don’t want anyone to cut corners to put workers safety in jeopardy.”

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Also yet to announce their plans regarding the proposed industry accord in Bangladesh: big U.S. retailers including J.C. Penney, Sears and Gap.

Wal-Mart released a list of all the factories it has already determined to me unsafe. A quick look at the list of around 250 factories, spread through the country but primarily in the two largest cities, Dhaka and Chittagong, shows the extent of the work involved in inspecting all Bangladeshi clothing facilities. Monitoring hundreds, or thousands, of such factories, will be a tall order both for Wal-Mart and for the many manufacturers coming together under the new safety accord.

I don't think im being an idiot, i'm being very logical. I out of most people don't want this to be 'faked' but due to straighforward reasoning one needs to ask themselves 'how?'.

Don't you think, only an idiot will look for logic and reasoning in a set of coincidents/miracle? Just look for the facts.... And that's in every report; facts like where she was, how much space she had, what she ate, what she did there etc.

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Originally Posted by BengaliPagol
She looked fine when she got out. 17 days in the rubbles is no joke. Where did biscuits come from?

Most garments workers would carry buiscits kind of stuff for eating on the job. And the building had markets in first two floors, so buiscits must be in most of the shops... She could walk around and found such food scattered.

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Originally Posted by BengaliPagol
I might sound as if I want this incident to be faked but i don't think all questions have been answered. And this is Bangladesh we are talking about. Anything can happen.

Yes, anything can happen.... But why would they fake it. Did anyone benefit out of it except the survivor and some satisfaction for the rescuers, who gets any benefit? No AL doesn't get benefit, rather people would say; had the government been efficient, more lives could have been saved, if we can get her alive after 17 days...

A couple of weeks back, during the immediate aftermath of the Rana Plaza disaster, I wrote a Note outlining the current position in Bangladesh on employees’/workers’ insurance and the provisions that exist for workers’ compensation under Bangladesh law, with particular consideration of how the collapse of Rana Plaza indicates the weaknesses of such laws and norms. I also makes a few tentative suggestions on how such a status quo may be improved and briefly evaluate some of the reforms that have already been proposed.

Baring their scars with dignity, the survivors of Bangladesh’s factory collapse who had limbs amputated without anaesthetic by amateur first-aiders so they could be pulled from the rubble

As they lay for hours trapped in the rubble, these women felt a surge of hope when rescuers eventually found them.
But incredibly the worst was yet to come - in the desperate bid to free the garment workers, rescuers with no medical training were forced to perform amputations on the spot to free them without anaesthetic.
They were heard screaming in agony as some of the rescuers used butchers knives or hacksaws to cut through the flesh and save the trapped workers.

even though its not on other newspapers yet, but this long detailed news with some facts starting to make sense. If its becomes the truth, what will be our image to our already damaged image to international community on savar tragedy?